The Memoirs of Bābur 899.1.1

899.1.1

899 AH.—OCT. 12TH 1493 TO OCT. 2ND 1494 AD. In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. In[36] the month of Ramẓān of the year 899 (June 1494) and [Sidenote: Ḥaidarābād MS. fol. 1b.] in the twelfth year of my age,[37] I became ruler[38] in the country of Farghāna. (_a. Description of Farghāna._) Farghāna is situated in the fifth climate[39] and at the limit of settled habitation. On the east it has Kāshghar; on the west, Samarkand; on the south, the mountains of the Badakhshān border; on the north, though in former times there must have been towns such as Ālmālīgh, Ālmātū and Yāngī which in books they write Tarāz,[40] at the present time all is desolate, no settled population whatever remaining, because of the Mughūls and the Aūzbegs.[41] Farghāna is a small country,[42] abounding in grain and fruits. It is girt round by mountains except on the west, _i.e._ towards Khujand and Samarkand, and in winter[43] an enemy can enter only on that side. [Sidenote: Fol. 2.] The Saiḥūn River (_daryā_) commonly known as the Water of Khujand, comes into the country from the north-east, flows westward through it and after passing along the north of Khujand and the south of Fanākat,[44] now known as Shāhrukhiya, turns directly north and goes to Turkistān. It does not join any sea[45] but sinks into the sands, a considerable distance below [the town of] Turkistān. Farghāna has seven separate townships,[46] five on the south and two on the north of the Saiḥūn.